


keep me like a promise

by TripsH



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, M/M, Post-Time Skip, Slight Manga Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-21
Updated: 2020-11-21
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:27:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27657521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TripsH/pseuds/TripsH
Summary: Iwaizumi leans over him, Oikawa’s arms wrapped around his neck, clinging to him. It’s too close, too intimate. Their hands on each other and faces only inches apart, a gap just waiting to be closed.
Relationships: Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru
Comments: 23
Kudos: 255





	keep me like a promise

**Author's Note:**

> I was working on a fic for iwaoi week and came up with a bit that didn't fit in with what I was working on. so I decided to turn it into it's own small thing, which became this. 
> 
> I’m so About post-time skip iwaoi where they know they’re in love with each other, but don’t act on it for a while until it's impossible for them to ignore it anymore. I don’t know how to write anything except these two being ridiculously in love with each other, so I’m always up for pouring all of my feelings about iwaoi out :') 
> 
> I hope you enjoy this!

As time has passed, years spent living in separate countries, Oikawa thinks that he and Iwaizumi have grown used to maintaining their friendship over the distance that stretches between them, between the different paths their lives have taken in Argentina and California.

It’s not always easy, but any time they’re together again after so long spent apart really doesn’t feel like they’re scrambling, racing to make up for lost time. Instead, it’s like they haven’t missed anything at all. There are no awkward pauses or uncomfortable silences. They just fit together like they always have, almost like nothing has changed despite spending so much time apart.

But there is one thing that has changed over the years. Months and months apart before they finally see each other again has definitely made them touchier, more casually intimate with touch than they’d ever been before. And those lines blur more and more the longer they do this, as more time passes. It’s easy to get swept up in all of that, to forget they’re walking this fine line and weird interim between friendship and becoming a couple. A simple moment like Iwaizumi grabbing his wrist so they don’t get separated in a crowd, ends with shifting their hands so their palms brush, fingers locking together. They gravitate towards the same space—choose to sleep in the same bed, often wake up tangled up with each other. And when Oikawa has to leave in a few days, he knows he’ll be able to feel Iwaizumi’s touch linger on his skin long after it’s gone, as he craves it again and again until the next time he can have it when they’re together again.

This time is no different. They sit on the beach in California under the setting sun, laughing, jokingly bickering with each other, so caught up in the moment, they don’t catch how close together they are.

It’s just like all of the times when they were kids, when they were teenagers, and Iwaizumi had made Oikawa laugh so hard he felt like he couldn’t breathe. He’d press his forehead to Iwaizumi’s shoulder, then, grip his shirt tightly to hold himself upright as they’d laughed uncontrollably about something funny that had happened or a dumb joke only the two of them understood.

“Iwa-chan!” Oikawa screeches, laughter loud when Iwaizumi kicks sand onto his legs in response to Oikawa shoving his shoulder. And Oikawa retaliates, of course, by throwing sand onto Iwaizumi. 

They grapple with each other, and Oikawa’s back hits the ground, laughing as he grabs onto Iwaizumi, dragging him down with him.

But when their laughter dies down, it’s like something’s shifted this time, as they realize how close they actually are, how they’ve landed and how they’re touching each other.

Iwaizumi leans over him, Oikawa’s arms wrapped around his neck, clinging to him. It’s too close, too intimate. Their hands on each other and faces only inches apart, a gap just waiting to be closed.

They’d done this stuff all the time growing up. Always ended up so close that outsiders thought there was more to them than only friendship. And they’d always ignored that feeling, that truth, in favor of pushing it aside never to be addressed, never to be acted on.

But now, years later, pent up emotions and longing have crashed forward like the ocean’s waves on the sand. Now, they spend more days apart than together. Longing, unspoken feelings neither of them seem to have any intention of speaking aloud linger behind every touch, every interaction. They take just enough, but then draw back, act as if it never happened in the first place.

“You okay? Sorry, I…” Iwaizumi trails off, his thumb brushing over Oikawa’s cheek, pushing some stray sand off of his face. The touch is so tender, so warm and familiar that Oikawa doesn’t want it to end. Doesn’t want this to fade to nothing, this moment to be forgotten in favor of slipping back to the start so they can continue to run in circles, wanting, but never taking. Over and over again.

His breath hitches as he takes in how close they are, how Iwaizumi doesn’t pull his hand from Oikawa’s face. The touch lingers, like Iwaizumi doesn’t want it to end either.

Iwaizumi’s always been the steady, constant hand on his shoulder, the person who stands by his side and who Oikawa always wants by his side, who he wants to share everything with. Iwaizumi is blue skies and golden sunlight and _home._ And Oikawa’s never wanted someone so much. He’s never loved someone so much. 

Without really thinking about it, fully caught up in the moment and their closeness, his fingers curl in Iwaizumi’s shirt, and Oikawa yanks him closer, surges upwards to close that gap and press their lips together.

It’s quick, forceful and a mess. Sand is everywhere, his hands squeeze Iwaizumi’s shirt so tightly it’s probably rumpled and stretched out. Their noses bump, and it’s a little off-center, but Iwaizumi still returns the kiss. Presses closer and cups Oikawa’s cheek, holds him like he doesn’t want to let him go. 

And it’s everything Oikawa’s ever wanted, everything he’s ever longed for.

Over the years, he’s taken so many leaps—moving to Argentina right after high school, choosing to accept the offer to become a citizen there a few years later. And that had been scary, terrifying in the beginning, even though they had been the right choices for him.

But there’s something about taking a leap over the line of friendship and romance with his lifelong best friend that’s always been even more terrifying than stepping into a foreign country all alone at eighteen.

Even if he wants this so much, even if Iwaizumi kisses him back and wants this too, Oikawa begins to doubt. What if they change when they pull apart and it’s not for the better? _What if this was a mistake?_

So he pulls back, worried that he may have messed this up. Afraid and scrambling for an excuse as he pushes Iwaizumi’s shoulder, tries to push him away when Oikawa’s the one who had pulled him so close in the first place.

“Sorry, Iwa-chan. I shouldn’t have…”

Iwaizumi frowns. Oikawa’s eyes dart away from his, afraid of what he might see, of what this might mean. “Huh? What are you sorry for?”

“I…” He turns his head away, looking off to the side. “I don’t know. I just…”

Iwaizumi sighs. “You’re gonna try to say it was a mistake, aren’t you?”

“You don’t think it was?” Isn’t that why they’ve been avoiding taking this leap for so long? Isn’t that the thing holding them back from finally just saying _fuck it_ and kissing? Because they don’t want to wreck what they’ve always had? Because they don’t want to hold each other back from reaching wherever they’re meant to go? Because the terrifying thought of trying to navigate a long-distance relationship between two countries could ruin them?

Oikawa knows he’d rather live with longing and yearning wrapped around his actions than to wake up without Iwaizumi in his life. He’d rather never have this than to turn around in a few days to go back to San Juan, leaving everything awkward and stilted and a mess between them because of a simple action in the heat of the moment.

Oikawa knows he wants this—Iwaizumi’s touch and everything that comes with it. If he could have it, he wants it. But part of what’s held him back for so long is he’s felt he doesn’t deserve to send waves crashing through their friendship like this. He shouldn’t get to shake their foundation like this when he’s the one making this distance between them essentially permanent by choosing to continue to build his life and career in Argentina. Iwaizumi _should_ want to run the fuck away from any type of future with Oikawa, who could never give him anything normal or close or constant because of all the distance that separates them.

Even though Iwaizumi’s always supported everything Oikawa’s done, and Oikawa has always done the same in turn, he can’t help but worry that he asks Iwaizumi for too much, and that one of these times he’ll go too far and lose Iwaizumi for good.

And he’s held back for so long, kept himself and his feelings in check, only to mess that up in one quick moment. An action done without thinking when he was caught up in the moment.

“Tooru.” Iwaizumi’s free hand rests on his cheek, tries to lift Oikawa’s head so he’ll face him instead of looking away. “Hey, Tooru. C’mon, look at me.”

“I’m afraid, Hajime,” he answers honestly, heart pounding in his chest, his eyes squeezed shut at the thought of losing his best friend. At the thought that if this was a mistake or doesn’t work, they could be a broken promise. Nothing but a memory of when he’d fucked it up, everything that came before just like crumpled photos in an album, bent from being gripped too many times, taken out over and over again to remember something that’s no longer there, something so far in the past it’s only meant to collect dust rather than bloom.

“God, Tooru. I’m not something to be afraid of. Please look at me.” 

He does. He finally does, turns his head so he’s looking up at Iwaizumi hovering over him. And he doesn’t see hesitance or uncertainty. Just warmth and love, and Iwaizumi’s smiling. Smiling at Oikawa, cradling his cheek so gently.

“Iwa-chan…?”

“Understand now?” He brushes a thumb over Oikawa’s cheek. “I’d never think that you’re a mistake. I’ve wanted to do that for so long, but I didn’t want to lose what we always had, so I pushed how I felt aside. You’ve always been braver than me, though, Tooru. So much braver.”

Oikawa shakes his head. That’s not true at all. “I was afraid too, Hajime. I have been for a long time, but you’re not the one who tried to run away after kissing me.”

Iwaizumi’s the one who has never let Oikawa stand alone when faced with something he’s terrified of—when he thought he’d never be good enough for anything, for anyone; when he questioned himself and his abilities and all of his decisions. And maybe this is similar. When Oikawa took a leap he thought was too much, then tried to reel himself back, Iwaizumi had reached for him and pulled Oikawa back to his side, caught him when he’d been afraid of falling.

Maybe they make up for when the other is afraid of something. Maybe they have enough faith in each other that it overcomes any doubts they have about themselves.

Somehow, they’re always better when they’re together, like they can take on anything they set their minds to. They’ve always made each other want to be better, have always pushed each other to grow into who they’re meant to become.

“Yeah, but no matter what, we’ve got each other.” Iwaizumi says, like he knows what Oikawa had been thinking. His hand slides through Oikawa’s hair. “That’s never gonna change. Promise.”

This is the same face he’s known all his life, promising him that despite being afraid of what could happen in the future, nothing will change between them. This is same face Oikawa’s been in love with since he was a teenager. The love he’s always felt for Iwaizumi has become more overwhelming over time, more tangible, now that they hold each other’s hearts within their hands between them like this. No more barriers, no more secrets. Iwaizumi is someone Oikawa trusts with anything, with _everything._

If distance is something to be afraid of, then really, they’re the ones who _could_ make it work against any odds. They will. No matter how difficult it may be. No matter how long they have to navigate it.

“I love you, Hajime.” Oikawa reaches up, cradles Iwaizumi’s cheeks in his hands before he leans in, kisses him for the second time.

This time it isn’t quick and all at once, a surge to smash their lips together, an action done without thinking. It’s deliberate, warm and devoted and gentle. A promise.

He never wants to let this go.

“I love you too,” Iwaizumi says when they pull apart, breathless, foreheads pressed together. “Fuck, Tooru. I love you too.”

So Oikawa lets himself fall this time, when Iwaizumi pulls him closer, kisses him again. Again and again and again. Because he trusts and loves Iwaizumi with all of his heart, knows that in any circumstance, Iwaizumi will be there to catch him, and that’s always been stronger, brighter than any fear he’s ever had.

**.**

“I promise too, y’know,” Oikawa says later as they decide to go back to Iwaizumi’s apartment. Iwaizumi helps him to his feet after a while, when it’s finally starting to get dark out. “I’m always gonna be here for you. I always want to be with you.”

And no amount of distance or time is ever going to change that.

“Wouldn’t want it any other way.” Iwaizumi grins, squeezing Oikawa’s hand. “Even when you’re a mess and covered in sand.”

“That’s _your_ fault. Not mine.” Oikawa tries to brush himself off. “You started it when you kicked sand at me.”

“I’m kidding. I think you’re beautiful, even with all the sand,” Iwaizumi says quietly, hands pressed to Oikawa’s hips. Then, a little more serious than the teasing from before, his cheeks a little red as he says, “You’re so fucking gorgeous.”

His cheeks heat up at Iwaizumi’s words, at the suddenness of them and the realization that now Iwaizumi can say things like that to him all the time. And Oikawa can do the same in return. God, he’s never going to get tired of this. “ _Iwa-chan…_ ”

“What? That embarrasses you?” The tone of Oikawa’s voice gives him away, and Iwaizumi leans closer, close enough to pull him into another kiss if Oikawa wants to shut down the playful teasing. “I know pretty much every embarrassing thing you’ve ever done in your life, and being called beautiful is what gets you?”

“Shut up.” Oikawa smiles, shoving Iwaizumi’s shoulder. “I think I’ve just always wanted to hear you say that for so long that I wasn’t expecting it. But I’m never gonna complain about you giving compliments to the love of your life."

“The love of my life,” Iwaizumi repeats, catching Oikawa’s hand in his so they can finally head back to his apartment together, hand in hand this time instead of just walking side by side. Fingers intertwined like they’re kids again, twisting pinkies together to swear their whole hearts on a promise, never meant to be broken. “Yeah, I think I can get used to that too.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I'm on [tumblr](https://oikawaz.tumblr.com/) and [twitter](https://twitter.com/_tripsh/) if you wanna drop by :D


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